Contents

Summary

Ms. Finster injures her leg and can't keep up with the kids during recess.

Plot

The episode starts with Ms. Finster confiscating Mikey's chocolate bar, telling him that candy at recess is "strictly forbidden". Despite further hesitation from T.J. and the others, she continues to take candy from students, including the Diggers and Skeens. T.J. spots this, and has a brilliant idea. He tells his friends that the target is to retrieve all the candy that Finster has confiscated calling it "Operation Contraband Candy". Just then, the "Ubiquitous" Finster grabs the blueprints and walks away when her sack of candy bursts and she falls over, hurting her leg. Finster is taken away in an ambulance and the other students cheer. The next day, everyone goes outside for recess, pleased because Finster is absent and believing that the playground will be free of restrictions - until Finster happens to arrive on crutches, surprising the gang. However, going around the playground with a broken leg proves to be difficult for her. Chaos breaks out in the playground. T.J. realizes that it was the perfect time to reinstitute "Operation Contraband Candy". They succeed but start to feel guilty when they see that they were taking advantage of the "poor" Finster. They then call a gathering of the crowd and then convince the crowd that she should not be taken advantage of. After that, they start acting like disciplined children. It turns out Finster didn't break her leg, and she could come the following afternoon to have her cast taken off, but she refuses, making an excuse that she would be busy all week.

This is the second episode where there is utter chaos in the playground, the first being The Madness of King Bob (an earlier episode in Series 4.) Both being caused by the absence of an authoritarian figure.

This episode also includes T.J. saying "what'cha talkin' 'bout," a pop-culture reference he says to several characters throughout the show. A reference to Diff'rent Strokes' Arnold Jackson's (portrayed by Gary Coleman) catchphrase "What'cha talkin' 'bout, Willis?".